Seminar and promotions!!

Had the first seminar of the new year with Darren and Helen Currie, taking us through something a little different; titled 'Survive, stay safe and escape', this was a totally different way of delivering a seminar, which looked at ways of surviving bad positions, getting the chance to escape them and come out with the upper hand.

Three hours flew by in to time and after some rolling at the end, Helen promoted Mike Ng and Russ Gates to blue, well overdue for them both, as well as giving out stripes to a number of students.

A great way to kick start the new year and look forward to more sessions with Darren and Helen during the year.

Gold for Sebastian Brosche in Lisbon!

My good friend Sebastian Brosche took gold in his weight bracket at the Euros in Lisbon; after training with him in Rio and watching him tap out black belts, this win comes as no surprise! Congrats bro, hope to see you soon! Photo taken from Sebastian's Facebook photo album.

Judo night!!

Had the first Judo class at the club last night under the tutelage of Dan grade George Launders; all the lads and myself had a great time getting to grips (no pun intended) with the basics of Judo and all the moves came back to me after being out of Judo practice since 2005, where I achieved the heady heights of top blue grade.



With a regular class at the club and access to George and his club, my aim this year is to get back on the road to black belt in Judo, as well as encouraging my students to do the same. Judo and BJJ are a match made in heaven and we now have an excellent coach on board to help polish up our throws and takedowns, as well as continued BJJ coaching, so watch out on the competition circuit, air miles are on their way!

Open Mat!

Another great session yesterday, four purple belts and one brown belt on the mats, joining in the fun; nice to meet up with some old friends and welcomed a few new ones too. Shouts to Scott Pickering and Tom Dolly from Team Sukata, Jez Lord from Braulio Estima and Graeme Kidd from Fighting Fit Labs in Manchester for coming over, hope to see you all again real soon.

Jiu Jitsu Style magazine!!

I have long yearned for a dedicated magazine for BJJ in the UK and finally, after all these years day dreaming, my prayers have been answered in the shape of Jiu Jitsu Style magazine! The first issue is due to hit the shelves and I am proud to say I am on board as a contributor; and so it's back on the road, press pass in hand, covering all the latest seminars and competitions, writing from a referee's perspective, plus interviews and anything else BJJ related.

Check out the new website and to all you BJJ players and coaches and fans alike, please support the magazine, by buying them from your club or on the shelves up and down the UK!

http://www.bjjstyle.com/

Saturday Open Mat!

Only in the second week of weekly open mats at the club and had five clubs representing for a great afternoon's training.

Had the pleasure of meeting Hanif Rehman who posts on the EFN forum, together with my lads from Bolton, Runcorn and Accrington, as well as my very good friends from EKBJJ in Rotherham, in what has now turned out be a monthly occurence by the lads.

Ended up finishing way over an hour after regular time and all the lads had a great time, for some of them it was their first time in a cage and others gained much needed cage experience as they prepare for MMA fights.

Thanks to all the lads for coming over and as I have said before, the invite is open to everyone in the UK and beyond the facilities are there for everyone to share at the open mat and I look forward to bringing over many other well known and not so well known faces throught 2011.

Goals for the New Year!

This is the time of the month when we all get serious in a bid to get back on it and hit the mats to burn off all the excesses of the festive period and we make the dreaded resolutions, that we all adhere to, right? Hmmmm.....

We all need goals in life to give us something to work for and goals in our training year are just as relevant; I light heartedly listed one of my goals on the EFN forum as standing on a swiss ball and lo and behold last night, I managed to stand for five seconds on one in front of the class, so that's one ticked off already, but what about the rest of the year?

1: Get promoted. Probably one of the main goals for most jiu jitsu guys and gals and a real motivator for me to carry on training hard and compete regularly.

2: Have a purple belt at the club. I have two blue belts that are knocking on the door and it will be the first purple belt at the club, I really hope this is the year it happens.

3: Referee more. This is a rather easy goal to achieve, as I am now on the Hereford Open refereeing team, as well as UMA referee and I have offered my services to the Staffs Open in March and to a number of events organised by Gus Oliveira.

4: Compete more. I had a great year last year competing and aim to attend a number of events that I missed last year and hope to enter more no gi events as well.

5: More promotions at the club. This is one of the best goals for me as a coach, seeing people walk through the doors at the club a raw beginner and over time, turn them into proficient jiu jitsu players.

I'd like to thank everyone for reading my ramblings over the last year and for all the helpful feedback I've received as well and here's to another great year in 2011!

Out with the Old, in with the New!

Looking back on an action packed 2010, it's hard to believe that the year went so fast, after cramming it packed full of competitions, seminars and travelling. It's been a while since I jumped on a jet plane and had some sun on my back, to help ease the aches and pains of hard training, but this year I was lucky enough to enjoy two extended breaks in Thailand and finally hauled ass to Brazil to enjoy one month's solid training, as well as spending my 40th birthday out there, which was a very memorable day to say the least.

Every weekend I've been involved in some form of jiu jitsu related activity, be it competing, refereeing or attending seminars, one of the highlights being the first guy to meet Cobrinha at the airport in Manchester and attending his first UK seminar.

One of the best things about jiu jitsu is the people you meet and the friends you make and this year I've made many new friends from all four corners of the globe and hope that this year is just as good. I've also made many friends through my many interviews and have had the honour of speaking to some of the biggest names on the planet, as well as showcasing up and coming UK talent, remember where you heard it first!

So to all the friends I've met throughout the last twelve months, it's been an absolute blast meeting you all and getting to know you and I wish you all renewed success this coming year and look forward to seeing you all again.

It's been a great year at my club and for Combat Base UK as a whole on all levels and 2011 looks to be an even better year for all concerned; to my students, I'd like to thank you for all your support and hard work this year and with all the new equipment at the club, I look forward to taking you all to the next level this year and seeing some new coloured belts around your waists!